#THE NPC DOCTOR IS REAL

[helladventurers]

God I always forget how brutal the early game of EO Nexus is on expert/heroic💀💀💀 it's fucking wild that not only they have a gigantic floor you have to explore without Ariadne threads, but you also have beat a full on stratum boss on level 5 with barely any good skills or gear

[pseudoquiddity]

Cool to me that in P3, all the patients you diagnose are interesting to talk to and are instantly sympathetic. Filat especially, despite the fact that it's implied saving his life gives him the time to rile up townies who then go and light fire to the Stillwater. But this makes sense because we dedicate so much time to sketching out a profile for him. At his core he's someone who views all people as equal and we can see how someone who will argue with a friend against racism will also argue with his Doctor about the freedom of all people under quarantine. We know that he's impoverished and we also see how it has both led him to this conclusion (poverty is inequality, the Kin are unequally poor) and led him to be the person who guards the Termitary and keeps the Kin inside (he needs food, not just for himself). But also he lets people slip out when he can. Which is kind but also a major contamination issue.

He just comes off instantly as a Real Guy, with a strong belief that exists in conflict with his environment, whereas I don't think literally any NPC in the Haruspex's route ever felt "real." They were all deeply representative of concepts and split into two groups - Kin and Townies, and those two groups were split into other smaller groups, but still they were more symbols than people.

I know people harp on Daniil for stereotyping and categorizing, and sure he does that to an extent, he's his own man with his own intense biases and feelings, but it's pretty key to his outlook on life and ideology that he sees people as individuals. It's clear to me that, as the natural contrary to Daniil, Artemy sees people as cultures, as "types of groups" influenced by environment and circumstance, all of them worthy of life but regardless, all of them a mass (partially inspired by the two conflicting cultures in Artemy). Now Daniil can get to know a man, really get to know him, then see him later at his own ambush and think: I understand what reasonable and emotional line of thinking got you to this place and I fucking hate you for exercising your freedom in this way.

[lulu2992]

Hello!

This is your regular reminder that it was never officially stated anywhere that Faith Seed’s real name is Rachel Jessop, that this “fact” is inaccurate, and that the Far Cry Wiki should never be fully trusted.

Have a good day!

More explanations (with sources) below.

Faith’s real first name is Rachel, and this fact is confirmed by Tracey¹ and Faith² herself. There is (or was) also someone named Rachel Jessop in Hope County, who is mentioned by several characters³ and who owned the Jessop Conservatory⁴, but no one ever says she and Faith are the same Rachel.

In fact, Dr. Rachel Jessop was a scientist who used her conservatory to research and protect endangered flora and fauna, and specifically study the effects of mining on the environment³. She joined Eden’s Gate when she ran out of money and sold them her property, which was then used by the cult to research and develop Bliss⁵.

Rachel (Faith) isn’t even from Hope County⁶, and nobody aside from her ex-best friend Tracey seems to have known her when she was younger. The two of them were part of a “free-spirit movement out west” (maybe from Portland⁷) but became addicted to hard drugs⁸, so they came to Hope County to “detox”, and that’s when they found Eden’s Gate. Tracey thought joining them would help and allow them to “live off the grid”… but quickly realized her mistake. Despite her efforts, she could never convince Rachel to leave too, as she apparently felt right at home in the cult¹.

All we learn about Faith’s family in Far Cry 5 is that, according to her, they were abusive⁹. Unlike what her biography on the Wiki¹⁰ states, no one in the game ever says her father was an altruistic doctor who made plant-based remedies, or that the woman who grew orchids in the greenhouses of the Jessop Conservatory was her mother. The truth is that we don’t know anything about her parents.

If we hear a younger Faith explain, in the Far Cry 6 Collapse DLC, that her father makes medicine to help people, it’s not because this was canon in Far Cry 5, it’s simply because the DLC was partly based on the information available on the Wiki¹¹. Collapse didn’t confirm anything, it just accidentally helped spread false rumors and popular (but not always accurate) fan theories, such as the idea that Faith is powerless and under the influence of Bliss when, in canon, it’s the opposite¹².

We have no idea how old she is either; her birth date on the Wiki is—you guessed it—made up as well. 1994 (24 years old in 2018)¹³ is believable, but just conjecture.

Faith Seed and Rachel Jessop are two separate characters.

Sources:

1: Tracey talks about Faith [LINK].

2: Faith talks about her former self [LINK].

3: NPCs mention the actual Rachel Jessop [LINK].

4: Dutch and Whitehorse explain what happened to the Jessop Conservatory [LINK].

5: Dr. Rachel Jessop is also mentioned in the description of the Jessop Conservatory from the deleted in-game encyclopedia [LINK]. Even though it was cut, since other characters confirm everything this description says, I see no reason to believe it’s not relevant anymore.

6: NPCs talk about Faith’s backstory [LINK].

7: Tracey implies she used to live in Portland [LINK].

8: Whitehorse gives details about Tracey and Faith’s life [LINK].

9: Faith gives her version of her story [LINK].

10: What Faith Seed’s page on the Far Cry Wiki looked like before the release of the Collapse DLC [LINK]. One sentence says, “Faith's father was a doctor who experimented with plants as part of an altruistic effort to save people”. It turns out the sound file cited as reference (2066969952.wem) is simply a cultist saying, “That Doctor Jessop was just trying to stop the inevitable. World’s gonna end, no point in saving it” (see source 3 above), never insinuating the Doctor Jessop in question is a man or related to Faith in any way.

11: Interview with the Scriptwriter and Narrative Designer of the DLC, Nikki Foy [LINK].

12: Whitehorse explains Faith is not only immune to the effects of Bliss, but also incredibly powerful and dangerous thanks to it [LINK].

13: Faith’s age on the Wiki possibly comes from one of the information sheets posted on the Playasia blog [LINK]. They appear to be unofficial and don’t seem very reliable because, as you can see, Faith’s hair and eye color are wrong...

[factual-fantasy]

30 Asks! Thank you! :)) 🐮

I was able to replace my tablet chord and download a brand new/fresh FireAlpaca file and so far things seem to be all better. But if my problems come back then I will be drawing in traditional yes <XDD

Also thank you so much!! :DDD

Bella my NPC cat? :0 She would accept the pats :))

@artistiemi

Awwwwwww 🥹🥹 This drawing is so cute and soft 😭😭💞💞💞 Thank you! :)))

@chickenmilk120 (Referencing this post)

Yeah 😔😔 hoping they change it someday soon 🙏🙏🙏

(Link in question)

Oh yeah! Its right here :)

@sc3n3mo-t3to

XDDD Thank you!! :))))

@candyglumboy (Sent after this post)

Not a crush, he's in love! :0 And so is Pomni but neither of them really realize that/understand it and thus aren't really doing anything about it <XD

@rockandtoon

SOBBBSSS THANOYIYUUU SO MCUCHYHH 😭😭💞💞💞

@fandomcenteral

Aw! Cute kitty!! :DD

And thank you, currently I feel not the best 💀 but hopefully this next doctors appointment will give me some answers <:))

@kwaziis-eyepatch-real

Thank you! :) But also sorry, no.. I wouldn't be comfortable with my art being used as pfps <:(

Ehhh,, I wouldn't <:( That probably wouldn't sit well with me..

Thank you very much for checking first though! Not everyone does <:)))

WAHAGG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :DD Sucks that you found me offsite but glad you're here none the less! :)

And don't worry, you'll find stuff for Kinger XDDD

@captain-skyler1987

Hello! And are those guys from Dandy's world.? XD

I don't like what you're implying by turning Jangles into a werewolf and then putting chocolate on the table <XDDD

@natewithcake (Post in question)

AAAAA THANK YOU!! :DDDD

MEEHEHEEEEHEHEEEEEEEEE🎶

@bellanova137

Maybe they'll come out and make it official someday! :0 But for now having them be in love and trying to hide it from each other is fun to draw and mess with XDD

I feel like having a wolf centaur body would mostly just be incontinent and very uncomfortable.😅

Typically, wolves display crepuscular behavior, meaning they prefer times of low light and are most active around twilight, dawn, and dusk. Imagine how that would clash with your human body which is supposed to sleep at night and stay awake all day..

You'd have to change your diet to give both your human AND wolf half the nutrients they need. It would be MUCH harder to clean yourself and wipe your own bum. You'd have to pay loads for pet shampoo and grooming products PLUS the human ones you already use.. You'd spend hours trying to groom your fur and not damage your wolf skin when you try to clean your human skin with other products and vice versa. All clothes have to be custom made, you cant sit or walk comfortably in any public spaces.. You'd have to go to human doctors AND special vets to care for both of your halves...

The list just goes on <XDD being a wolf centaur would just suck in my opinion.

Ah sorry- nono you weren't being rude. I just forgot to comment back that I don't actually know what laptop I have 😅

@ink-machine-kidd

She probably snuck past whoever was in charge of her and put on the headset even though she was told not to😔

(Recent post) (Queenie and Kinger comic)

Oh nono, I just hadn't made everyone's ref sheets yet at that time. But different outfits is something Caine would try to manage! :0

Man you really had pirates on the mind huh XDD

Ohh, I see. I might not do that.. but I get the idea now <:D Thank you!

Vibes received 🤩 Thank you! :)))

Thank you!! :DD

Big wolf! :D

@samcat71470558

Thank you for the kind words <:))) So far it seems like the new tablet chord and downloading a fresh FireAlpaca has fixed all my problems. Hopefully it stays that way! 🙏

XD I think I just have a pattern with medias I'm into. If the story is mostly wholesome it feels bland. So I add a bunch of angst to it. (Octonauts is a good example)

Or alternatively, if the story is super angsty or has types of angst that I don't take well, (like character deaths) then I usually make a fix-it AU that brings everyone back to life and changes/removes a lot of the angst. (TADC and my Undertale AU: RefinedTale being good examples)

Also in my AU, Kaufmo hasn't abstracted. So she bonded with the other humans in other ways overtime. 👍

@wolfie-777

At first I assumed these were obviously fake. But a quick Google search shows that they seem to be real! :0 Although the peeled banana is clearly photoshopped <XDD

Ngl, a vanilla-like custard taste is exactly what I hoped/expected those bananas to taste like XDD

@theintroverse

La Chancla translated to "the flip flop".? <:0 I'm sorry but I don't understand..

Also is he based on a Pinata? :0 I hadn't realized- perhaps I will have to consider giving him some candy powers <XDD

[utilitycaster]

I do want to plug The Re-Slayer's take again if you're not listening: it's short and goes very fast (it's edited to have no real table-talk, so it plays like a scripted podcast even though it's actual play) and despite being all ages...think AT:LA or Doctor Who and how fucked up things can get. Also the core cast is great (I was already a fan of Jasmine Bhullar and William Jasper Cartwright but Jasmine Chiong has won me over as Farah, a cranky older blood hunter woman), they've had some great guests (those listening on the main feed - Christian Navarro is about to show up!), and some of the main cast of CR has shown up as very fun NPCs!

[sawbuckplus]

Watching everybody I know on the left pontificating about the proper way to conduct audits, after getting their accounting degrees from the University of Internet this week, is absolute cringe for me. Guys, listen, I say this with love… You don’t know dick about shit and it’s fucking embarrassing. Just stop. You sound like idiots. So now, as a guy who used to be an auditor, who has defended companies from dozens of audits from different government agencies, I’ll try to correct some of your incredibly stupid NPC talking points you keep endlessly barfing up. First off, you need to know there’s a difference between an outside audit and an internal audit. An outside audit is when somebody who isn’t part of your company comes in and checks your stuff. 

...

You do NOT need to be an accountant to be an auditor. Anybody who says this is a total dumb ass with zero grasp of how any of this shit works in real life. The people who make up your audit team are recruited from whatever skill sets are necessary to audit that particular system. I (the accountant) have been on audit teams with IT guys, programmers, lawyers, and even machinists. (why machinists, because I was auditing a factory, and I could count the parts, but I couldn’t tell you if the parts were bullshit or not) So if you are auditing a computer system, then your auditors would obviously require computer people. Fucking duh, morons. Holy shit. The reason most auditors come from an accounting background is because most fraud, waste, and abuse comes from fuckery on the books. But if the fuckery is taking place in the particular systems before they get to the financials, that’s where we bring in systems experts. Next, you morons are acting like the entire organization is half a dozen 20 somethings, because that’s who got doxxed first and you fuckers are too stupid or dishonest to realize that’s not the entire team. Newsweek has compiled a list of known DOGE staff so far, and their ages are 33, 42, 28, 34, 67, 30, 33, 36, 33, 47, 25, 24, 43, 23, 25, 45, 19, 28, 21, 44, 39, 57, 45, 41, 32, 28, 22, 37, 37, 35, 24, 42, 36, and 36.

...

But (insert sob story here about how some good necessary wonderful saint of a government employee or super awesome wonderful government program got cut here) REEEEE!!!! Except too bad that’s total bullshit. The time for a gentle, caring, measured (slow), careful pruning of government to only remove the bad tissue with a scalpel was generations ago. We are now at the axe and TQ time before the patient dies. Yeah, that sucks, but that’s what happens when you procrastinate going to the doctors while a cancerous tumor the size of a fucking watermelon grows out your back.

...

Next, Elon now has access to our personal data! REEEEEE! Which is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard, because if Elon wanted all our personal data he could just buy it off the Communist Chinese, from one of the last seven times our incompetent and unaccountable federal government leaked all our data, for way cheaper. This is just idiotic obfuscation.

...

If a company’s records were full of broken bullshit, the government would assume the worst, fine the ever living fuck out of you, and possibly send you to jail. Because the government’s default assumption when a company’s books are all fucked up is that it is on purpose to hide fraud. Except when our government’s books are filled with things like 30 million dollars to fund a Transsexual Peruvian Orchestra, and 99% of that money never made it out of northern Virginia, we’re supposed to assume that’s just nice fluffy goodness, and HOW DARE YOU assume there’s anything dishonest going on.

Read the whole thing, and then take a wander through the comments. Well worth your time.

[biscuits-of-bagend]

Doctor Who and the Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms

I have extremely specific brainworms so I see a parallel between Belinda and Ralph and I need to explain.

So when Three first arrives at the space centre in Ambassadors of Death, he is being super rude in the “I am surrounded by idiot human ants” sort of way. And like it’s genuine. He’s as pissed to be stuck on Earth for Season 7 as I am, and so he is just not seeing people as real people. It takes Ralph standing up to him, refusing to be used like a worker ant so that the Doctor can solve the problem,(1) and thus being the very best friend he possibly could be, to remind the Doctor of the value of his precious idiot humans.(2) He brings the Doctor back to us.

1.

2.

The way that Fifteen doesn’t see people properly is more subtle, but off the back of DoctorDonnaRose, the Legend of Ruby Sunday and Joy the Star of Bethlehem, he’s fallen into the Sutekh trap of seeing people as stories, as mysteries to be solved, or "adventures" as Belinda puts it.(3) Belinda engages with the Doctor on his level and refuses to go in the Companion box, just as Ralph refuses to go in the Standard NPC Who Is Just There To Provide Information box. He is forced to see her.(4)

3.

4.

You can see from his reaction that this is a big shift. It’s uncomfortable, because it means looking at the world so much more complexly again, which is scary. But I am sure he will ultimately do it. If Three can, then so can he 💙💙

[meggannn]

Ranking the Driving of CP2077 NPCs

Based on my experiences getting in the passenger seat next to my friends and allies across all these hours playing Cyberpunk 2077, I feel equipped to judge them on their driving skills or lack thereof, scripted and unscripted. For context, every time someone offered to drive me somewhere, I always said "yes" first out of laziness, but then out of horror, because I had to document proof that some of Night City's finest should never have been allowed on the road.

Not listed: People who drove me while I was in the backseat because I usually didn't know their face or name, e.g. Dexter DeShawn's driver or the Peralezes' driver. Important characters only, basically.

Jackie: 10/10 Got me home safely, apologized for scratching my car up during a gunfight, borrowed my car for a date, and delivered it back unscathed in the morning and because he paid for the damages to be fixed overnight without me asking. He's a real one. In honor of Jackie and to repay our peaceful trips together, I always make sure his ARCH remains scratch- and accident-free.

Judy: 9/10 Even when she was worried out of her mind trying to find Evelyn, she gave me a pretty unremarkable trip experience, which honestly puts her in the highest tier. Probably the best you can hope for in an NC driver is someone who can drive safely while in the middle of a crisis, because that's all the time.

Reed: 8/10 Genuinely a pretty good driver, just fucking slow as hell, but I guess I can't blame him for that in the super narrow streets of Dogtown.

Takemura: 7/10 Did his best while a bunch of assassins were shooting at us. Crashed the car into a very obvious billboard support to kill the guy on the car's hood, however it did nearly flatline us both when we were already in critical condition, so I can't give him full marks. That said, he saved my life and kept me alive while we were being chased by said assassins, then delivered me to a ripperdoc and helped carry me while he was also bleeding out. He also somehow managed to mostly stay in the correct lane while driving backwards down a curving road (!) just so I could have easier aim at a motorcyclist behind us. (I have mixed emotions on this: I'd understand wanting to brag that you can do that, but I think when we're already both full of bullet holes, it may not be the best time to show off.) So overall, his judgment skills range from excellent to questionable in a crisis. But we did have a much more pleasant, relaxed drive on our second trip together going to see Wakako, so with those two extremes, he weirdly averages out to probably be one of the most normal drivers in the city.

Nancy/Bes: 6.5/10 A lovely ride that would've been better if she hadn't "tapped" me at the end after letting me out. I give her a small pass because it was the middle of the night and I had just rescued her from a two-day stint in a Maelstrom hideout, so who knows what kind of fumes she'd been exposed to.

Delamain: 6/10 I mean, as drives go it was fine, but I'm knocking points off for not letting me change the route to stop at a goddamn doctor when my friend was bleeding out. I should be able to trust my driver to change routes to make the right decision for passengers in unexpected or urgent scenarios, which Delamain's service will not or cannot provide. As it runs its own business, it has more autonomy over itself than most AI, so I feels like it should install an emergency stop/rerouting mechanic somewhere in its programming.

River: 5/10 Technically never hurt anyone and he does obey the rules of the road, but I'm not sure which I'm more fearful of, his bad luck or his baffling judgment. Every time I ride with this guy to chase down a new lead, he somehow finds a car crash, shootout, or some other sort of jam on the road, drives slowly up to it, and then stops to gawk at it for several minutes, both hands at ten and two, glaring at the problem through the windshield as if that will make it wrap up faster... when he could, I dunno, turn right and drive slightly around it instead? The bad luck isn't his fault, but trips with him don't make for a pleasant experience.

Panam: 4/10 Her overall success rate getting me to and from places safely is very high... at least in the Badlands when there's no traffic around. As a streetkid, I would certainly trusts her driving skills over mine in the desert. However I know I cannot trust her in the city around other cars, because when we first met she drove STRAIGHT into my parked, newly fixed car, shoving it backwards onto the sidewalk without pausing at all. Then she looked right at me as if to say "What are you gonna do about it, bitch?" Still haven't forgiven her for that. So it's probably for the best Panem went back to the Aldecaldos, because she can't be trusted in a dense, urban lane.

Claire: 3/10 Guilty of several hit-and-runs, and I don't just mean the illegal street racing. Ran me over while dropping me off twice. I can forgive one time, but twice is a pattern as far as I'm concerned; I don't believe in third chances. She also shamelessly knocked over some pedestrians, so I know it was her, not me. I can see why she wanted me behind the wheel for our races so at least she's self-aware.

Kerry: 2/10 Like Panem, he is also guilty of crashing into my parked car when picking me up to go somewhere, yet unlike Panem, he did so while "borrowing" someone else's car while on a mission to blow up a third one. @skys-metro has also shown me he's guilty of crashing HIS OWN fancy Aerondight as soon as he leaves Denny's mansion, every time. Y'know, that car he specifically asked Rayfield to manufacture for him, of which there are only four in the city? As I've established above, twice is a pattern in my book. Johnny is correct not to trust Kerry behind the wheel, but I'd add an addendum: Do not ever trust this guy with any vehicle in any context whatsoever.

Rogue: 1/10 Absolutely fucking abysmal. Now I see why Rogue plants her ass in the Afterlife and lets work come to her, because her license not only needs to be revoked immediately but she needs to be on a billboard about public safety hazards. Not only did she crash several time into various railings and support poles, but at one point she drove in circles at 70mph for about five minutes and then chased down other cars on the road just to slam into them (including a police car but tbf that was just funny). Could she have just been getting some pent-up anger out of her system on the way to track down Grayson? Sure, I get that, but leave me out of it, old woman! Her gaze was ice cold and her hands were completely steady, but I felt the heat from the fires of Rome burning just beyond our fragile windshield. Not even using the "Skip Ride" feature would let me escape this madness, because it just teleported our car somewhere else, with her still behind the wheel, still glaring at every other car on the road as she rammed them so hard their hoods came off. Poor V was trapped in a never-ending, unwilling game of bumper cars from hell that Rogue was playing with herself, so eventually I had to pull a divine intervention and reload an earlier save (Guess what: Rogue STILL drove like a maniac the second time, but at least this time "Skip Ride" actually worked). Some footage of this godforsaken drive has been saved and shown below, because my V wanted to record her possible last moments and warn people of this terror in the streets in case she didn't make it out alive.

So there you have it: I nominate Rogue as Worst Driver in Night City, which is not a decision I take lightly, as there are a lot of contenders.

[cheemscakecat]

A Little Emesis Blue Headcanon

I always thought Fritz’ reaction to burnt Spy was… interesting.

Now, he’s obviously shocked to see it. But I have a theory that he wasn’t just thinking about past respawn failure victims and their injuries when he saw Spy.

I think the plague doctor means different things to different mercs, because they’re sharing a nightmare. And in Fritz’ POV, the plague doctor is a nightmare version of his silent personality. They both move eerily smoothly, they both don’t speak, and despite the quite personality having no mask, he doesn’t emote much.

There’s a lot of fire imagery around Dr Ludwig in this movie.

There’s candles on the casket he’s trapped in, and the Plague doctor is the only person around to put them there. The fact that he put so many on a rickety wooden casket implies that he wants the candles to burn down and set the casket on fire. Causing burns everywhere.

Yet again, we see something evil with a mask, using fire to attack Fritz. Note how the M burn is on the right side of his face and very close to his eye.

You know who else has a mark under his eye?

The quiet one. It’s under his left eye. Something must have happened to it, otherwise he would have equally red bags under his right eye.

In addition to Fritz having the burn on the other side and more of his cheek, the eye injury can’t be credited to the roulette scene. All the worst carnage was on the back of Ludwig’s skull because of the placement of the gun barrel.

So what happened to funeral Medic?

When Fritz sees the plague doctor, he’s always in the dark. He also seems capable of controlling shadows. This leads me to believe that the quiet Medic must be able to visit Fritz in his inner world.

In DID [formerly multiple personality disorder], there’s something called a headspace or inner world. Personalities can interact with each other and sometimes, the Core personality which is what Fritz probably is.

Inner worlds vary a lot in how many settings there are, if there’s fake townsfolk like NPCs, and how much the personalities can control their environment.

My best guess at the moment is that wherever Fritz was when he encountered the quiet Medic in his inner world, it was very dark and the quiet one had powers related to the dark.

Maybe most of the other personalities can’t access the part of the mind where Fritz is at, but the quiet one can. That might help explain why he thinks he’s schizophrenic and is so afraid of the personalities being evil.

Let’s be real, funeral Medic is very off putting even to the audience; imagine that but it’s using your face. Now imagine being Catholic and believing in demons. You probably have a light in your hand, because it’s dark, right?

I think Fritz saw this for the first time and threw a lit candle or lantern directly at his face. Leaving the red scar under his eye and making Ludwig afraid of the quiet one coming for revenge.

That would explain why Plague doctor was reaching towards his face and making smoke/shadows creep around. It would explain why Pyro chose to brand him on his face. And it would explain the look he gave burnt Spy.

”It’s you!-Wait no, he healed.-And I don’t smoke, who’s this guy?”

[witheredgardenparty]

Primum Non Nocere

Part 1. | Part 2.

Read on AO3 (AO3 Account)

(This might look familiar. Author moved blogs.)

Childe x g/n Reader

Modern Day Mafia!AU

On quiet, rainy nights like tonight, there is very little to do but to wait. Rain kept people inside. Night kept people in bed. The only thing that happens on nights like this, are nothing at all or complete and utter hell. (or, the one where you get saddled with a difficult patient.)

Warnings: yandere dynamics, soft yandere, Reader uses dark humor and suicidal ideology as a coping mechanism, Reader is an interning doctor, strong opinions of a failing medical system, treated a little like a medical drama, minor character death, improper use of Fatui NPCs, gun violence, threats of violence, workplace harassment, due to plot reasons Childe is a little OOC (that will clear up with the head injury)

Note: Implying it is modern day Teyvat and not the real world, but I don't really get around to naming locations in this one.

Word Count: 2.7k

It is raining. It is raining and it is darkening and it is quieting and you are waiting. You are waiting because you are not sleeping. You are not sleeping because you are making mistakes.

Had you the opportunity, you would take your younger self aside and tell them: learn a trade or become an illustrator or default to vagabond. Maybe you will have been poor, but current choices have made you poor regardless and miserable and you are not sleeping and your body is barely working. There are no guarantees in life, but you could have chosen to be happy. You could have chosen anything else but this. You could have been anything else but this. Anything else, but a doctor.

Yet, this did not happen. Instead, you studied hard, studied tricks, met the right people, fed your soul to the wheel, and failed. Though eventually, trying again and squeaking in. Half the game, sometimes, is luck. If only you had realized then, that it was when you were failing, that luck was trying to save you.

...please read the rest on AO3. (Requires an Account)

[jacksonscouts]

What's happening in the TLOU fandom is heartbreaking.

There's a doctored image that's been spreading around of Joel's grave, but this is the real image:

Does that say "Joel Miller" to you?

Here are the facts. During the second chapter, "Jackson," you can overhear NPCs discussing Joe Mill's death.

Additionally, there's an artifact outside of the blacksmith building:

In conclusion, Joel Miller is alive and kicking. In fact, they show him alive in a "flash back" which means Ellie got "back" to Jackson in a "flash" to play guitar with Joel on the porch.

[lulu2992]

I think the “funniest” part about the Far Cry Wiki’s (incorrect) conclusions that Faith Seed’s real name was Rachel Jessop and that her father was a doctor is that, even though not a single NPC in Far Cry 5 ever says the “nice lady” who owned the Jessop Conservatory and who had “a greenhouse full of orchids” was married or that a man ever lived in her house, the moment people heard “Dr. Jessop”, they immediately assumed the doctor in question couldn’t be the same person and had to be male :’)

[alliedn]

currently mastering a homebrew version of CoS and I had my party get into Barovia through a horror carnival, twbtw style! If you're familiar with canon d&d lore, it's Isolde's carnival. Except I had Isolde die and my ocs take over because I hate her as written sorry not sorry lololol

There are more original characters, but I'm starting to post these in case you enjoy them so you can bully me into sharing more! In order:

the 4 plague doctors of the carnival, my players only really met 2. Dr Crimson, Cordovan, PB (short for Peste Bubbonica, Bubonic Plague) and Lunedì (Monday). They're adoptive sisters! And not really licensed medical professional but shush. They have a maskless design I swear haha

Funesta Pathos-Lepiota, the new artistic director of the Carnival, and her wife Sibilla Ardelean. A drow and a wood elf, basically Gomez and Morticia Addams if they were roaring 20s elder lesbians. Funesta is also a dhampire but that's like the most normal thing about her so no one notices. Sibilla is a disciple of the Raven Queen, and a native Barovian. Also the adoptive mothers of the plague doctors and the krampus! (see below)

Toblach and Bruneck, the carnival's krampus and security personnel. They're very sweet, eccentric 10ft tall dudes who enjoy scaring folks and play-kidnapping misbehaving children, although this usually backfires because most kids break a rule just to get their attention and an instant high-speed ride in their baskets. They're blood brothers and adoptive kids of Funesta and Sibilla, thus also siblings of the plague doctors. One big happy family! Can you tell found family is my favourite trope ever also SHOUTOUT to my pal @milich96 for bearing with me appropriating alpine culture and for suggesting names!! You're basically their godparent now

Silessa, one of the few npcs who are actually from the original setting, although I changed so much about her I might claim her as an oc at this point asdfghjk. Heavily inspired by Kalbelia dancers (from a real life tribe of Rajasthani snake charmers), she performs with her beloved snakes, her favourite being a 15ft long python named Sir Hissington, whom she affectionately refers to as "uncle". She's actually a giant venomous snake polymorphed into a human, but first of all, a sweetheart who loves sharing stories. I should really do her justice and clean her artwork.

And that's all for now! Names in image ID

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker 2x09

Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you saw the last of me. Except not because I said I might do this. And now I am.

As you may or may not know or care, the Wizard Breakdown Tracker began almost exactly four years ago (March 26 2021) and ran through the end of Campaign 2, including the Uk'otoa two-shot, echoes of the solstice, and occasional other appearances, covering the mental state of wizard NPCs. Because by the end of Campaign 2, we sure had amassed a cast of Wizard NPCs.

And it was pretty late in the game, is the thing, and the wizard NPCs begin quite early, and also when I was binge-watching The Pitt over the past few days I remembered the breakdown tracker, for obvious reasons* (spoilers for The Pitt under the cut lol) because really, what I love most in life and The Enjoyment Of Fiction is watching people who are really good at what they do have a little nervous breakdown so that I can experience catharsis. I'm very normal and being a high-achieving eldest daughter did not shape my psyche.

ANYWAY it is time for our wizard tracker, which is brief because we're at one (1) wizard NPC reveal so far, and while I know what they have coming for them, they don't.

Pumat Sol: Unbothered. Hydrated. Moisturized. Happy. In His Lane(s). Flourishing. Fitter. Happier. More Productive. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. He is doing great and I cannot wait until he meets Yasha but that's in like 6 or 7 episodes. He's vibing and he's thriving. 0/10.

Until we Nein Again, this has been: The Wizard Breakdown Tracker.

Ok actually just to be transparent here, I believe we won't run into any more wizards or see Pumat for a couple more episodes so I may have to vamp a bunch or skip it until we've got a slightly larger cast or idk, include Caleb or otherwise get silly with it; this may not be a weekly installment. but it will be semi-regular.

bonus Main Cast Doctor/Med Student breakdown tracker for cool people because the wizard breakdown tracker is kinda thin and it's funny as hell to do this. to me anyway. in reverse order of seniority:

Victoria Jiavadi: she has already snapped and told her mother to read the fucking room however she is actually finding out that passing out aside (to be fair I did NOT look close at the degloving and I'm not squeamish and also not physically present and I know it's not real) she actually might have what it takes for emergency medicine! 7/10, I don't think she knows how to relax but honestly this is a downgrade for her

Dennis Whittaker: apologies to my mutuals who have been hearing me talk about the most sopping wet cat in the state of Pennsylvania all weekend but while Santos might give him a heart attack with her REBOA antics, he's also starting to realize that he might be cut out for this after all. 6/10 and it's gonna go down if Carmen gets an OR quick; he got his breakdowns out of the way early so honestly it's been an upswing for him.

Dr. Santos: her vibe is that she's got it all under control but I know how this works and things have gone too smoothly for her I feel her time is coming this coming episode or the finale. Or maybe not. She might not crack until season 2. But I'm going with an 8/10.

Dr. King: perhaps this is revealing things about myself but my gut check is that she's going to handle the remainder of the shift like an absolute champ, pick up her sister, go home, and once her sister is asleep, fall apart for precisely 23 minutes and then listen to some calming sounds and go to bed herself. 5/10 for the next episode at least.

Dr. McKay: She did just drill through an ankle monitor and her kid is here. Like emotionally she's tough as nails but nerves are fraying. also I did watch the previews and I think chances are we're at like 9/10.

Dr. Mohan: I'm going to admit I think she's great but also unsurprisingly I bounce off of her a bit because she's so good and like, kind of emotionally healthy, honestly. I'm here, as discussed, to see extremely competent people experience mental breakdowns and in doing so have some cathartic release. Anyway she's also crushing it during the MCI so I'm saying 4/10.

Dr. Langdon: oh boy, this could go like. 2-3 different ways, and since this show was renewed and he's got good chemistry with the rest of the cast I'm going to say 9/10, there's going to be TEARS and NARC-ANON MENTIONS and MANLY YELLING but he'll get his job back on probation I think. I don't actually know how this works but also as someone with family on both the provider side and admin side AND someone who has watched all of House MD AND Scrubs I think they're more likely to bend some realism re: letting a doctor who was skimming opioids come back.

Dr. Collins: I hope she listened and has her phone off and is taking a hot bath and having a glass of wine but if she is she is probably at least having a much-deserved cry while doing so, and if she's not, well, she's trying to get to the hospital during an MCI, so also 9/10.

Dr. Robinavitch: bestie did you see the episode. it's showtime. I do want to call out verisimilitude specifically for the Peds room on the Pitt, although in my personal experience they are more likely to be "under the sea" themed than "forest/jungle" themed. but yeah you'll be in like a pediatric x-ray room and there will be elaborate murals of fish, and I think the choice to set this breakdown and all the flashbacks in a pediatric room specifically is a great detail. This isn't about reviews of The Pitt from the perspective of "person who does things in hospitals" though; it's about Dr. Robby, the most divorced man of all time without actually being divorced, absolutely losing it in the corner of a makeshift morgue mid-MCI on The Second Worst Day On This Calendar Date he's ever had, Maybe The First Which Is Saying Something, 10/10.

[astridkai]

My Thoughts on the Romanceable Characters in Coral Island

This is going to be part one with the men + Raj. Merfolk will be their own post because this got long. I also start a little mean, please stay with me here-

DISCLAIMER!!: I am not done with all the heart events, so this is subject to change! I'm also still on my first playthrough. Please don't take anything personally if I don't like your favorite character, it's a game and not that serious. Most of my bad reviews are focused more on being funny than trying to prove a character is "bad". I really love this game and all the characters! These are just my current thoughts (or lack thereof) on them.

Ben

Starting off strong because I hate this man. First of all, he reminds me of an ex so I immediately dislike him a little bit. Then he was gone a whole season and had the audacity to send me an errand in the mail. But that doesn't go into my main problem with him (spoilers for his heart events).

He has a 20-some-odd year old duck named Fun Bucket. Cute, right? Well poor little Fun Bucket fall ill. Tragic! Heartbreaking! What does Ben do? Maybe take his beloved companion to the ranchers (that live like a 10 minute walk away from him) that probably know something about vet care? Maybe try getting some animal medicine? Possibly see if maybe there's food he can feed to help Fun Bucket feel better? None of the above!

This guy just wraps him in a blanket, sits him outside with a TV (which in my game was the middle of winter), and feeds the duck pizza. Pizza. Ducks, notoriously, shouldn't be eating bread! What is pizza? Bread with toppings. Then he waits an absurd amount of time to stop being in denial about Fun Bucket needing medical attention and takes the duck-- duck. D-U-C-K. Duck, the bird-- to a HUMAN DOCTOR to figure out whats wrong with him.

It made me dislike him strongly, I would not trust that man on my farm with my beloved animals. Ever.

Charles

I'm not done with his heart events, so right now he's just kinda...there? The sneezing and dying in spring and refusing to take an antihistamine (per a dialogue line from Yuri I got like once) is very real of him.

Kenny

Kenny!!! I love him so much :D! Planning on romancing him (maybe, undecided still). He won me over with a dialogue about a wasp, because I love bugs and I think people need more empathy for them. I love how he likes animals and nature so much, because so do I. And from what I can tell, he seems very sweet!

Luke

I am done with his heart events, and honestly? Just there, and has rich parents. He has a really cute dog, Taco is great. During the winter fair he has a line about staying with Taco on the beach while he takes a nap, and I thought that was cute.

Mark

I made a post about his reaction to getting a loved gift on his birthday, and it cursed him in my game forever. If I get his actual dialogue, it's a miracle sent by Hell to taunt me. His dialogue box is just a blank white screen and clicking off gives a quick flash of whatever the last NPC I talked to said. According to my save, Mark doesn't exist anymore.

Noah

He's cute and sweet! I thought the scene in the library about the fairy he was researching was fun. I was going to romance him, but he is so worried about leaving his mom alone and her possibly getting hurt that I felt bad at the idea of making him move out.

Pablo

No. The first thing he says to me is "Damn, I wasn’t expecting you to look like THIS" immediately no. Absolutely not. Then I get to his heart events and this man has atrocious listening skills! His brother doesn't want to feel ignored. What does he do? Ignores every aspect of his brother and brings him to things that Pablo, and only Pablo (exaggerated), enjoys! When finally confronted about this his first response is just "What's the difference?" WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!? Sure he fixes it in the end, but still don't like it. No.

Rafael

He seems sweet, and I relate to him a lot from what I've seen. He is also glitched- I'll probably romance him in a different playthrough. I think he's very interesting and from what I've seen on here is very husband worthy, just...he will only talk to me about the Wind Gate opening. I am so hoping for that to be fixed in a patch/update.

Raj

Almost didn't like them because of the coffee obsession. But then their dialogue lines started to be about other things, and I fell in love with them. And the coffee thing became endearing when I learned more about Raj. 100% going to marry them in my next save (I might film that one, unsure). Actively making an OC to ship them with.

Scott

I don't run into him much so he's kinda there. I do like that his personality seems a little unfit to his interest (at least that's the consensus I've seen some people have, I don't totally agree with it but moving on), I think it makes him a little more interesting. I will not be romancing him ever because he has the same name as a family member and that feels weird.

Surya

Another one I was going to romance! I really liked that he moved to the island shortly before the Farmer did, I think that it'd be fun to think about Surya and the Farmer figuring out the island together. Only reason I didn't actually romance him is I don't like having kids on my first saves in farming sims (no valid reason for that btw) and he has a line about wanting the coral reefs to be around for his future kids to enjoy so I felt bad.

Theo

I'm trying really hard to have an opinion on him that is more than just "I like that he likes music and also he's hot" but I can't right now. I'll blame this on sleep deprivation and come back in 3-5 business days if a thought forms.

Wakuu

His relationship with his dad reminds me a little of my relationship with my mom. Seeing Wakuu being able to make some amends with his dad and his dad actually acknowledging he messed up was something that made me feel hopeful for my own life. That has made Wakuu an important character to me.

Not all my ideas are fleshed out because I'm not done with all the events!! I also just don't interact much with some of them (like Theo, Scott, and Luke). If I play on a different save and romance some of them, my opinions will probably change. Thank you for reading this far, I appreciate it :)

[the-glorious-evolution-fanart]

Was watching schnee's video essay on why arcane's characters are lonely from around 2 years ago and at the 1:17 timemark we see a scene from s1 where Heimerdinger praises Stanwick Pididly to Jayce. I was like why does he sound familiar? Then went yooooo it's that bitch who stole credit for making Blitzcrank from League Viktor!!!!!!

Damn, Viktor really is the opposite of a creator's pet.

Got a complete revamp instead of just getting an Arcane skin like the other champions that were in Arcane, was written in a very ableist way in both seasons, doesn't have his disability or terminal illness named even though it's a big part of his character, lost his agency for most of season 2, got confirmed as ace after the show ended because one of the showrunners hated jayvik, didn't form any meaningful relationships in the show outside of Jayce, isn't properly credited for making the Hexgates in the show, had actually cool concept art for his transformations into the Machine Herald just to have it scrapped and now the guy who wronged Viktor the most in his lore and is the actual reason why he started to self-harm as well as the main reason he completely embraced "Glorious Evolution" is treated like an outstanding dude 🙃

Plus it's not just Viktor. They deleted Jinx's schizophrenia in season 2 and screwed over any complexity Vi had in order to get her back together with Cait by act 3.

Yeah, Stanwick Pididly was an NPC in old league lore who not only stole the credit for creating Blitzcrank from his doctoral students, he also stole Viktor's earlier research and designs for prosthetics and used those in the process of revival and reconstruction of Urgot in the collaboration with Noxus's Bleak Academy, of course presenting those as his own. He also went to Piltover to advertise "bringing Urf back from the dead" while Piltovians were mourning Urf's passing. Unsurprisingly, he was kicked out. He later became a councilor on Zaun's Board of Directors. An absolutely deplorable person.

And what did Arcane do? It turned him into a hero, a founder of Piltover way back in history and Heimerdinger's friend.

One could argue that a viewer would have to think about worldbuilding to come to conclusion that whoever was involved with Piltover was directly involved in creating and perpetuating suffering in Zaun, thus Pididly is portrayed as a villain... and that theory could hold water, if literally any Piltovian was actually fully held accountable by the narrative for what they did to Zaun. Yet none of them, other than Marcus (whose crime was also hating Caitlyn!) was. Heimerdinger is a silly little goofball who might have been too serious earlier and "stuck in his old ways", but he felt sad when he went to Zaun (once? For the first time since Piltover started oppressing Zaun?) and narrative instantly treats him as fully redeemed. Jayce's moral dilemma disappears in S2. Caitlyn is not held accountable.

Arcane does a very poor job of actually following through with its portrayal of brutality Piltover enacts on Zaun which was shown through enforcers in Season 1. It is shown, yes, but the narrative doesn't always frame it as bad. Oftentimes it behaves like it's the case of "it is what it is". Which means there's no strong basis to say that Stanwick Pididly was portrayed as anything other than a hero.

~

For the rest of your points, I have nothing to add because they're all true, other than the ace argument - bear with me - if you view it through the lens of "it's a tool to deny jayvik", it may seem to you as something bad. But ace people are real, one of my best friends is ace and as an orientation it's not good or bad, it just is. It really shouldn't be used as a negative in ship wars.